A German manager who won the Champions League in England, and also once led Borussia Dortmund, wants the soon-to-be vacant FC Barcelona head coach job according to a respected SKY Germany reporter, who quoted anonymous sources.
Using his popular X account, Florian Plettenburg provided a report and update on the current status of Thomas Tuchel, who, like Xavi Hernandez at Barca, will leave his Bayern Munich post at the end of the season.
“Thomas Tuchel has never ruled out a return to Chelsea. He still has the club in his sights,” Plettenburg wrote, adding that the former Blues boss’ “greatest short-term desire” is to return to the PremierPINC League.
“He doesn’t see his project there as complete yet,” Plettenburg added, explaining that as previously reported, Tuchel is also interested in possibly overseeing Manchester United.
“In Spain, he wants to coach FC Barcelona someday,” Plettenburg concluded.
Even before Bayern and Tuchel agreed to part ways at the end of 2023/2024, his name had been linked to Barca in the wake of Xavi announcing he will step down on June 30.
Less than 24 hours after that bombshell development, Tuchel was asked about his future at a fan event in Heidenheim and said that “moving abroad would appeal to me again”.
“Spain has an extraordinary league. From my perspective, and based on my experience working with Spaniards, they are characterised by a tremendous amount of self-confidence. When you speak with Spanish players, I quickly get the sense that you are engaging with the person,” Tuchel stated.
As soon as it arose that the Barca manager’s hotseat will become vacant, Tuchel’s fellow former Borussia Dortmund tactician and Champions League winner Jurgen Klopp was swiftly reported as a preferred candidate by outlets such as SPORT given that he too will be out of work in the summer because of already revealing his Liverpool exit.
With Klopp appearing to be heading for a sabbatical after more than eight emotionally taxing years on Merseyside, however, Brighton’s Roberto De Zerbi is most fancied by the Barca board though his release clause reported as more than $16 million by The Mirror in England provides a stumbling block to a financially-challenged outfit.
Because of this, and Tuchel’s reported interest in working in Catalonia, Tuchel could emerge as a frontrunner over the coming months with nothing more than his salary needing to be paid to make an appointment by Barca president Joan Laporta.
